


In Theory and In Practice

by theacesofspades



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, cheek kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 15:19:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11316132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theacesofspades/pseuds/theacesofspades
Summary: Zelda was a lot of things. A princess. The heir to a prophecy. The descendant of the goddess Hylia in mortal form.A girl in love.But above all, she was a scientist.





	In Theory and In Practice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angiekaori92](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angiekaori92/gifts).



Walking gave one time to think, and as they had been walking for the past few hours, Zelda had had nothing but time to think. Good or bad, with only Link as a potential conversation partner, any attempts at speaking tended to go rather one sided. 100 years ago, it would have bothered her. Today, she appreciated the quiet.

The two of them were on a ridge, high above the Gerudo Valley but not yet into the Gerudo Highlands. A short ten minutes past, Link had stopped them by a mound of boulders. The rocks seemed to have some significance to Link, and he had spent most of their break crawling through the small spaces between them, but to Zelda, their importance currently dwindled down to being a backrest for her.

Sitting and relaxing, more so than walking, gave one time to think. They were high enough above the valley that she could see the snow above them, but it was not yet cold where they were. Link was nothing if not prepared, though, and while Zelda was using the time to refresh and rest her feet, Link was putting together the outfits he had bought them from Rito Village for the trip. Zelda watched him, and let her mind wander.

Now, in the quiet, her mind turned to, of all things, her journals.

Of all of Princess Zelda’s many many possessions, her notebooks were her most prized and most indispensable. Possibly also her most used. She had been obsessed with writing down everything she learned since as long as she could, even when she had been just a small child and wrote about nothing more than what tea she liked with her cookies.

The simple journals had been some of her best tools in her quest to learn more about ancient Sheikah technology - though they had done little in the face of Ganon itself.

It had only been a about a month now since she and Link had defeated Calamity Ganon, but she had already completely filled out another journal, front to back, on all sorts of things. Anything they came across as they traversed Hyrule went in her books: The habits of the local Lynels. The new growth patterns of the Silent Princess. The airspeed velocity of Link using Revali’s powers in comparison to Link using his paraglider. Scribbles and doodles and notes and musings.

This was her joy, and one of the things she had most missed in the one hundred years she was fighting Calamity Ganon. Research. Collecting facts and recording information, documenting her discoveries, analyzing their meaning. Putting it all together.

Which was why Zelda always had at least one journal on her person at all times. Even now, on this trip with Link, she had three in her pack. Just in case. They were going to be gone from civilization for quite a while, after all, and one could never be too careful. (At least, that was what she had told Link when she caught his raised brow.)

They had come up here, into the Gerudo Highlands, to look into a giant statue Link had been dying to show her. Zelda grinned to herself. Link was, honestly, quite adorable when he was intent on something, and he was currently very intent on helping her rediscover Hyrule. In truth, it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her. She almost - _almost_ \- blushed just thinking about it.

If she was going to remain honest with herself, then she would have to admit - Hyrule was not her main focus on this trip, and her journal was currently home to more than just musings of a strictly . . . scientific sense. Zelda chewed her lip, a nervous habit she had never been able to rid herself of.

Zelda was a lot of things. A princess. The heir to a prophecy. The descendant of the goddess Hylia in mortal form.

A girl in love.

But above all, she was a scientist. And scientists researched. They learned. They explored. When Zelda was interested in something, she went after it. No excuses, no holding back. Until now.

Zelda had tried to ignore the way she felt about Link. He was her friend - her good friend - and one of the only ones left from their lifetime. She did not want to spoil that. She loved Impa and Purah, but neither of them were willing and able to hike across Hyrule with her like Link was. And she did not want to explore the world alone.

Zelda had been scared plenty of times before. At times, she felt like she had spent most of her life at some level of fear or terror. But she had never been afraid to go after something she was interested in.

And yet here she was. Undeniably interested in Link. And yet too afraid to do anything about it.

She had tried to reason her way out of it. Her books were full of those kinds of reasonings. Link was the only person left from her time who was also a viable romantic partner, of course she was interested; he was familiar and safe. (Except, if she was being honest with herself, she had liked him even one hundred years ago). He was good looking, of course she found herself attracted to him. (Except, he was far from the only good-looking person in Hyrule; Gerudo Town alone was full of very attractive people.) He was kind, and caring, and sweet, and funny. (Except -) except, except, except she liked him. A lot. Whether she liked it or not.

She had a hypothesis. One she had two full pages set aside and devoted to, most of them empty and ready for future notes. As a scientist, she had to test this hypothesis. In the name of the progression of interpersonal relations, of course.

She had written it all down in her precious journals. It was simple, really. Problem, solution. If, then. _If_ she kissed Link, _then_ he would be flustered. Perhaps he would blush. Most certainly, it would be very endearing. And hypotheses were, after all, created to be tested, a concept she had had no problem with until now.

In light of her infatuation (she refused to call it a crush), her journals were also full of notes on Link himself, how he had been, how he was now. He had certainly changed a lot since last she had known him.

Zelda had to admit, Link was an odd bird. She had never met someone so quiet in her life before, and quiet he was. Before the calamity, she could go weeks or even months without hearing a word from him. And when he did speak, it was only when it was of the utmost importance, or she had successfully cajoled him into divulging a bit about himself.

For much of the time they had known each other before, she had not understood his silence. She had had several different ideas - all, of course, detailed in her journals - ranging from passive thoughts to foolish ideas to thought-out, fully-formed imaginings. 

Perhaps he had been cursed as a child (possible, if not plausible). Or else he had sworn an oath of silence (to whom? for what?). It could be he was following some tradition of the knights of Hyrule that outsiders were not privy to (stupid - no other knights had trouble speaking and most, indeed, could not be shut up). Maybe it was a tradition of the princesses’ knight that she had forgotten about (or more likely that had been hidden from her - if she learned something, she was not liable to forget it).

Her most popular and most frequented thought was also one of her biggest worries: he hated her. It was simple, it made sense, it lined up with what she knew about him and how he interacted with her.

To her unending relief, the reality was very different. He was just scared and overwhelmed, just like her. He faced the same fears that she did, only he handled it differently.

In that way, he had remained much the same as before. He spoke, largely, no more and no less than he had 100 years ago.

Link had changed, though. In the bigger, more obvious ways, of course, like now preferring to be outside and in open spaces, cooking all his own meals, haggling professionally with all the merchants - people he treated with some deep familiarity. But he was different in the little ways, too. Though he did not speak verbally any more or less that before, he was, in his own way, much more talkative. He was more expressive than ever before, and she loved it - the way his face lit up when he got to teach her something he had learned, how fast his hands moved when he noticed something he thought she should see, his laugh when she managed to break through his shell with a well-timed joke.

She had not known a lot about him as a person before the calamity, thanks both to his privateness and her being convinced he hated her, but, despite all she had learned since then, she felt she knew even less of him now. One hundred years asleep and then weeks of running around on his own all over Hyrule had turned him into a stranger she was still getting to know.

Well. No matter. She would just have to get to know him.

And she was getting to know him, even better than she had ever hoped to know him before. If she could go back in time and tell herself that she and Link would be best friends one day, her old self would have laughed in her face. Yet true it was! They went everywhere together now, and everyday they got closer.

She knew now that he did not like the taste of mushrooms and only ate them for his health. That he loved fruit, and that wildberries were his favorite. That his favorite color was blue, but he was not fond of the shade Hyrule used to mark their royalty and their Champions (he preferred both the lighter blue of the Gerudo vai outfit he had, and the darker blue of the Zora armor he wore when they visited King Dorephan). That he loved to dance. That - Zelda felt a tap on her shoulder and startled.

Link was beside her, frowning. “Oh, Link!” she coughed nervously.

Without her noticing, Link had finished searching the small cave amongst the rocks for supplies, and had set her Rito outfit out on the ground, his already on. He was frowning, and she worried at first that Link had spotted the Lynel he had told her liked to roam up here, but he did not look scared or protective, only concerned. “Is something the matter?”

Link pointed at her, then tapped his temple, wondering what she was thinking about. 

Zelda grinned ruefully. “It is nothing, I was only thinking. About . . . things. I got a bit stuck in my head, though, hmm?” she laughed. “I’m sorry, Link. I’ll try to keep up.”

He smiled back at her and shrugged, then offered his hand. For a moment, she only stared at it. Before Ganon, she would have been furious at him for even such a simple gesture. What then she saw as pity, or Link trying to appear friendly to cover his disdain for her, she realized now was honest helpfulness.

She grinned. “Thank you.” She took his hand and he pulled her up.

Zelda expected him to return to his pack and finish going over their rations and supplies, but instead he stayed next to her. He lifted his face to the wind, grinning, and closed his eyes. Zelda’s heart tugged. It was such a thoughtless, happy gesture and Zelda was struck silly with the sight - he was truly beautiful, wind in his hair and sun on his face, just enjoying being there.

And, well, he was _right there_.

She did not stop to think. To hell with being the logical scientist - that had done little to help her in this regard. Quickly, before she could falter, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

She had been right. On all accounts.

Hypothesis. If she kissed Link, then he would:

(1) become flustered (Link’s eyes shot open. He turned to face her, spluttering and surprised.)

(2) blush (Link turned red from his ears to his neck, and he placed his hand softly on the cheek she had kissed.)

(3) be absolutely and totally endearing (Link stared, his hand on his cheek and his head tilted to one side.)

“What -?” he gasped. 

Zelda grinned at him, ignoring her heart pounding in apprehension in her chest. “I felt like it.”

The ends of his mouth twitched up, threatening a big smile of his own. Which only made Zelda’s smile grow. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly to her and pressing her smile into his shoulder. (A note for future consideration: she was taller than him.)

Slowly, tentatively, (shyly, unless that was just her wishful thinking) Link returned her hug and wrapped his arms around her back. They stood like that for a while, and while it was not quite how Zelda had envisioned this going (there had been significantly more kissing to go with the hugging, the way she had planned it out in her journals), she was more than happy to let it be. It was not often she had the time to relax and just. Be. And hugs were nice. And Link’s hugs were some of the nicest in Hyrule, as it turned out.

Link pulled away and cradled her face in his hands. She sighed, content for once, and laid her hands around his, grinning.

“Link -” she started, but he cut her off, leaning forward and kissing her softly on her forehead.

She had not thought it possible, but her grin widened, matching his own. He let go of her to return to their packs and for a moment she was flooded with doubt ( _what if_ ). But when he turned to give her her pack, he must have read it in her face because he shook his head and smiled, brushing his hand up and down in front of his chest to tell her he was _happy_.

She smiled back at him and offered her hand. He took it, and they continued their journey through Hyrule.

**Author's Note:**

> For my gorgeous bosom buddy! I see your cheek kiss and raise you a cheek kiss aaand a forehead kiss! I know it's not a canon kiss, but this is the best I can do for now. Maybe one day we can get Nintendo to listen to our demands!
> 
> For everyone else, I apologize for the probably butchered ASL. I love, love, love Link being mute, but I wasn't sure of where to even begin with describing the signs. I also saw several different versions for each word I wanted to convey, so hopefully I picked the more common versions. Please let me know where I've messed up so I can fix it!


End file.
